Texas officials cannot block the sale of a vanity license plate that features an image of the Confederate battle flag, a federal appeals court in New Orleans has ruled.

In an opinion Monday (July 14), a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a Texas court's ruling against the Texas chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which sought to have Texas issue a specialty license plate that featured a Confederate flag logo.

The court found the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board violated the free speech rights the Texas chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans when it voted against creating the plate amid outcry from citizens who felt the Confederate flag is racist imagery.

Board members said they denied the group's application for a vanity plate because the majority who spoke at public hearings about the plate were offended by the flag image. The Sons of Confederate Veterans have said the flag image celebrates Southern history.

"Given Texas' history of approving veterans plates and the reason the board offered for rejecting (the Sons of Confederate Veterans) plate, it appears that the only reason the Board rejected the plate is the viewpoint it represents," the opinion states.

Texas officials could request a rehearing by the 5th Circuit or appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. In its ruling, the appeals court noted that other legal challenges over vanity plates -- involving the Confederate the flag, religious messages and other controversial issues -- have resulted in conflicting opinions among circuits.

The controversy surfaced briefly in the 2011 presidential primary, when Republican contender and Texas Gov. Rick Perry weighed in on the Confederate plates, saying he opposed them because "we don't need to be scraping old wounds."